Solace
by Blessed Unrest
Summary: On a summer's eve, Lucy found herself sitting among engraved tombstones.


**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of Fairy Tail or its characters

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><p>On a summer's eve, Lucy found herself sitting among engraved tombstones.<p>

She came the same day every year, a routine already set into place—walking leisurely through the scattered markers, skimming her fingertips on polished stone and the soft leaves of a bouquet tickling her skin with an errant breeze.

Occasionally, when the moon waned and the stars dimmed, she lit a small lantern to ease the loneliness. But often on nights like these where the clouds graciously parted, she comfortably eased herself into the grass, wistfully watching the constellations that seemed to wink back at her.

And then she closed her eyes and began to speak.

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><p>To her mother, she spoke of her first exposure to grief. Unlike her cheerful letters, this was her time to bleed.<p>

"Mama, when you left everything turned dark." She paused, hesitating to voice her next thought. "Father changed; he didn't want to talk to me anymore. He valued work over everything else."

"In retrospect, I shouldn't have been surprised. He needed to grieve for you, too. But he had too much on his shoulders. A child, who was far too attached to her mother, and a business to keep alive for the future of his precious daughter and dedicated staff."

"I felt so useless then, constantly crying in front of your grave. In rain or shine, I was there. Crumpled like those dysfunctional toy soldiers who couldn't stand anymore. I vaguely remember someone carrying me back to my room every night, most likely Ms. Spetto."

"But when she tucked me under the covers I never felt so alone. No lullabies to will sleep to come. Just nightmares. Terrifying nightmares. Recalling your funeral was the worst." A harsh sound whistled through her teeth, chest rising from the sharp intake of breath. "There were thousands of people there. Hundreds who I didn't know came to visit your…coffin. And then they turned to me to give their condolences. 'I'm sorry for your loss', they said. _Why were they saying sorry?_ I was so young then, so clueless. For the majority of the service, I stared at your pale face, wondering when you were going to wake up. It wasn't until father came to bring me back in did I make a scene. I screamed and kicked as hard as I could, wailing to the heavens, 'why aren't you smiling?'. Father gave me a good scolding after that."

"Then seven years passed in a blur. I managed to save some pocket money and purchased my first issue of the 'Sorcerer' when I secretly went on grocery errands for Mr. Aed. Can you imagine what I saw on the cover? Fairy Tail, a guild full of wonderful mages that were just like you, Mama. Shining, bright and so full of hope." The corner of her lips tugged into a small smile. "They've treated me well since. I wish you could meet them…"

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><p>To her father, she voiced her disbelief, her doubts and her guilt.<p>

"Father, when I visited Love & Lucky, I wanted to see you. Seeing Cana finally confess to Gildarts made me want to reconsider our relationship. Not as a loving father and daughter; that was too soon. At least as equals, sharing each other's burdens to make up for lost time." Her brows scrunched in a delicate frown. "But when I saw that pitiful expression on the receptionist…I didn't know what to think."

"You left before I could say a word."

At this, she quickly shook her head. "No, that's not right…although you did abandon me as a child, you always had hope in me. That much was obvious when I last met you in Acalypha. You heeded my demands and somewhere along the way you had changed. Even I had changed. Enough to joke about the ridiculous notion behind my name. Enough to genuinely smile, instead of out of fear that you would unleash that temper of yours. It baffled me for the longest time."

"After I came back to Magnolia and learned about your passing, I couldn't help but question my previous misgivings. I was sad, lonely and sulking like the 10 year-old self I tried to shut away so long ago. Yet…the tears wouldn't come."

Her hand tightly clenched around her collar, as if grasping her heart. "_Where did we all go wrong?_ _When did we divide ourselves through petty differences?_" She paused for a moment, slowly releasing the crinkled fabric. "We were blinded by our disputes and refused to see our similarities. Both stubborn, both easily irritable, both holding strong beliefs and determined to have our way with the world. And more importantly, we both loved Mama dearly. S-so dearly." She furiously wiped at her dangerously watering eyes, determined to finish her speech.

"And when I found those seven precious letters, those seven intricately wrapped gifts, I finally broke down my walls. Those four little words…_why didn't you say them sooner? _If I had known you loved me from the start, I would have filled my whole room with letters addressed to you! Granted, I would still run away to become a mage in Fairy Tail no matter how protective and somewhat condescending you were. But I would like to think I would reassure you as a loving daughter who yearned for her father's affection."

"I would have told you about all the ridiculous things Team Natsu has made me go through just to hear you nag at me again. I would have told you about my likes and dislikes and in return you would tell me yours. I would have asked why I resembled my mother so much, and you would reply with countless stories of how you two came to love one another…I wanted to cherish that small part of you that Mama believed in."

"And knowing that I can't even fulfill that wish breaks my heart." She gave up trying to stop the tears, her voice raw from overuse. "I truly wished…I made more of an effort to know _you_."

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><p>To her short-lived sister, she reminisced of her childhood in the Heartfilia Konzern and moments shared during the hunt for the Infinity Clock.<p>

"When you came in bumbling through those doors, I was shocked. Shocked because you resembled a part of my younger self. Clumsy, earnest, ever-so-innocent and somewhat lost. Well, that and you suddenly claimed I was your unofficial sister that, for the life of me, I couldn't remember." A tentative chuckle escaped her lips, amused by the girl's oddly endearing behavior.

"And as any member of Fairy Tail would, I welcomed you with open arms. It wasn't just the resemblance that struck me; it was also the fact that you _knew_ my father. You said he would be proud of me…I don't think you knew how much that affected me. When I first read those words on paper, the sentiment didn't translate as well as my father wanted to, yet when you told me simply and sincerely, I knew everything he wrote in those letters were true."

"You were determined just like Father, too. You wanted to go onto missions with us, despite how reckless we were, and even if you did so for all the wrong reasons, you were willing to help me find the pieces connecting to Father's memento."

"And then Oración Seis was reborn." Her eyes contorted to something akin to agony.

"I felt so rotten inside…betrayed that you wanted a world like Real Nightmare, where people couldn't tell when from where, and a world where I would be isolated from my friends for a century. And when you said a standstill for that long was no different from the seven years I was gone on Tenroujima, it felt like you drove dagger into my chest and twisted as hard as you could. I almost wanted to scream at you for your obliviousness."

"You knew my Father missed my absence for seven years, clinging on a single strand of baseless hope that I was alive. You knew how much those seven dreaded years affected our guild member and my spirits. Their loss became my loss. _So why couldn't you see how much I suffered?_" Lucy rubbed her guild-mark soothingly, relieving some of her unwanted ire.

"Yet…I couldn't bring myself to hate you. You, like many others, had been deceived. Promised the purest of intentions but fueled by the most tainted means. You wanted to be my true eternal sister. I was confounded when you tried to pull me out of eye of the Infinity Clock. When Brain II admitted that everyone would forget my existence once I fully merged with the wretched device, you fought for my memory. _You wanted me to be remembered_. It was a well-seated fear from my scarred childhood that suddenly struck a chord."

"_You also wanted to be remembered_. Everything fell into place then. My 'sister' turned out to be the precious doll my parents gave me on my birthday; I named her Michelle. I made you dresses with colorful tissue paper and adorned you with faux flowers that mirrored the estate's esteemed gardens. We were inseparable." A rueful sigh blew across her hair.

"And then when mother died, I couldn't stand to look at you anymore. The jovial memories were only a painful reminder of what could have been. I left you on an unsuspecting chair, cold and damp from the sudden downpour."

"You saved me again when you showed me your memories with my father. He confessed his fears to you: a father who didn't know how to soothe his daughter during her darkest times; and later on his deathbed he finally proposed a solution. You, my talisman. I was once again amazed to see another facet to my seemingly stern father."

Carefully, her hand drew into the folds of her jacket and withdrew a doll with startling blue eyes, caressing its face with utmost tenderness**. **"Even though you will always be with me, I can't help but wish we had a little more time together…"

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><p>When she opened her eyes, she found herself staring into the same startling blue orbs she had dreamed of the night before.<p>

Before she could fully grasp the situation, an angelic voice floated to her ears, "Lucy? What are you doing here?"…who wasn't Michelle.

She quickly masked her disappointment and spared a smile to the woman with alabaster hair. "Nothing, Mira. Just took a walk last night and fell asleep here." Briefly, she wondered what the barmaid was doing at the cemetery; usually she was tending to the guild by this time of day.

A delicate eyebrow raised in suspicion, and then in a brief second Mira gave a slight shrug and an inviting smile. "Then why don't you stop by the guild? I can whip up a quick smoothie and some breakfast. Free of charge!"

At this, Lucy couldn't help but return the kind gesture. Mira's cooking was always well appreciated. "Sure. Just give me a moment to stretch and I'll meet you in a few."

As the eldest takeover mage skipped through the ironclad gates, Lucy breathed out in relief. She turned her head towards the horizon, watching as the morning's hues bled into the previously indigo skies. Satisfied by the picturesque view, she proceeded to follow her companion when she caught a whisper of laughter.

Her eyes narrowed into the distance, barely discerning three figures. A woman with flaxen hair, aged but beautiful nonetheless, and wrapped in the arms of a man with a well-trimmed mustache and a tailored suit, both smiling. And lastly, a young girl with shimmering azure eyes, waving her handkerchief in the wind. _Goodbye, _they seemed to say.

Her heart felt indescribably lighter. _See you next time._

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><p><strong>AN<strong>: I originally was going to only focus on Michelle for this one-shot, but then I realized I couldn't really write Michelle without Jude and Jude without Layla. So this happened. To those wondering, I based the cemetery in Kardia Cathedral, not in Acalypha. Anyways, I wanted to try a hand at some hurt/comfort genre; I've been reading a lot of it lately (no I'm not depressed) and was inspired to write my own. Plus, that last episode of the Key of the Starry Skies arc is one of my favorites.


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